From Endings To New Beginnings
by Rodgie-xx
Summary: St Berry, Klaine, Brittana and others A New Direction Spin Off idea! Future!Fic Senior year is over and the senior gleeks have left for New york with some familiar faces. But what happens when an even more familiar face turns up at their doorstep?
1. Chapter 1

**Ideas for this won't leave me and I think it just has to get written and shared before it drives me insane ;) **

**I've been thinking about the graduation episode and then the not to be spin off idea that was floating around, and decided to make it my own idea. You may notice that I like AU or future stories...**

**This is only the beginning so a little bit of an explanation. Jesse will arrive next chapter or the one after at the latest.  
**

**So basically some of the gleeks have graduated, some are left behind. Not all of the show's seniors are seniors in this and vice versa with the juniors. **

**Mercedes, Tina, Artie, Quinn, Rory, Sugar and Joe are juniors**

**Finn, Rachel, Puck, Sam, Mike, Brit, Santana, Kurt and Blaine are seniors. All but Finn moved to New York. **

**Summary: **The graduated gleeks have made their way to New York with some familiar faces. It's a year one and life seems as normal as it can get when ten teenagers roomed in the same apartment.

How will they react when the one year reunion of the New Directions is being hosted by them in New York?

But one day when the one person that has held a certain diva's heart since he first left her returns things are thrown slightly upside down. As he tried to worm his way back into her life he discovers that family is very important and never too far out of reach...

**Don't own glee :)**

* * *

The apartment was full. It had been ever since they'd bought it off the nice old lady selling. How could it not be full? Full of people... Full of noise... Full of laughter... Full of music... Full of memories... It was an inevitability for all of them to be in the same city and try to not live together.

It had been a year since the eleven teenagers left Ohio, for the bright lights of New York City to start new lives. Never looking back.

* * *

"Berry!" Sebastian Smythe hissed from the next room, banging harshly on the wall the moment Rachel's radio alarm came on, blasting a short stack song. The rustling that followed the banging probably meant that his unusually-chirpy-in-the-mornings roommate was beginning to stir as well. "Turn that fucking thing off."

There was a groan in reply from the same room, as the other roommate attempted to fall back asleep.

"But I like this song," Brittany Pierce whined, slowly crawling out of the warmth of her bed, careful to not disturb the lump of fur curled up in the middle of her bed. Because it was Brittany, no one really questioned why she was so insistent to let her extremely fat cat along with her too New York. But alas she had, and no matter how much Kurt and Sebastian plotted to burn the thing that purposely destroyed their things, he had become a beloved family member.

From the other end of the hall there were noises of agreement; most were agreements with Sebastian rather than Brittany. The walls in the apartment really were quite thin, meaning every little sound traveled from one end to the other relatively quickly (conversations could still be held at night when they were all in separate rooms), and it was only seven on a Saturday and most of them wanted to sleep in. That was the only downside sharing had, when one of them had an early class they all had to get up early.

Brittany was the first up in the girls' room, flitting around the room in her unicorn inspired pyjamas designed by none other than the one and only Kurt Hummel. Rachel, Brit and Santana roomed together and surprised everyone, including themselves, with how well they got along outside of the toxic environment that was McKinely high school. Life was very, very different in comparison. For one thing, Rachel, Santana and Brittany were inseparable, having worked out their differences upon arrival in the city and then grew closer being the only three girls in the little group they called family, the New York Gleeks. All of the taunting and bullying was put behind them and Santana and Rachel found that they were very similar evil masterminds, which also meant very horrible revenge plans.

"Sorry, guys," She called back, so that all of their housemates could hear. Rachel was fumbling with the little device, still cocooned in her blanket, pressing some of the buttons to lower the volume, Santana rolled over, cracked open an eye and attempted to glare at her roommate, but Brittany was getting up anyway.

"Is it San's turn to make breakfast?" Brittany asked, bouncing slightly as she pulled one a fluffy robe, her blonde pony tail bobbing up and down.

Santana groaned in response.

From next door they heard Sebastian muffle a curse as a weight landed on his bed, "I'll make breakfast," Jeff Sterling called, "San and Rach can sleep a little longer."

"That wasn't going to happen anyway," Santana mumbled into her pillow, burying her head underneath the doona.

Footsteps were beginning to emerge from other rooms, and the whistle of the coffee machine in the tiny kitchen was almost tempting enough to get up for both dark haired girls. Rachel caved first, slipping on her warm slippers. She wrapped her arms around her body and ventured out of the girls' room. Altogether there were eleven of them and Rachel, Santana and Brittany were the only girls. They were sharing a spacious apartment that only had four bed rooms, so there was sharing. Eight of them had been in the New Directions at some point; the other three were ex Warblers.

The sight Rachel was greeted to was a very familiar one, Kurt Hummel and Blaine Anderson were singing along softly, dancing around each other as they rhythmically prepared coffee for their significant other, Kurt in only his boxers and Blaine in a pair of harry potter pyjama pants and bunny slippers. They made quite the pair, still going strong in their relationship, and were at the point in their relationship where they could basically read each other's minds. It was adorable to see. Jeff Sterling and Nick Duval, two of the four Warblers that graduated last year, were standing by the stove, also only in boxers, humming to themselves. Their epic friendship hadn't diminished after graduation, they were still the 3 6 mafia and caused most of the havoc around the house. Nick was mixing the batter and Jeff had to swat Sam Evan's hand away from his pancake recipe multiple. The blondes faced off for a moment, but erupted into laughter. Mindlessly Sam sighed and went to put the waffles in the toaster to accompany Jeff's breakfast. The one thing they had learnt pretty quickly with their living arrangements, Rachel made amazing vegan dishes, Nick, Jeff, Kurt and Brittany were culinary geniuses and Sam and Blaine were no longer allowed near anything sharp in the kitchen.

After putting the toaster waffles in Sam only pouted but moved over to one of the three bar stools placed against the small bench diving the dining room and kitchen, beckoning Rachel over as soon as his eyes landed on her. Noah Puckerman, Mike Chang and Sebastian were already in the dining room, poring over a car magazine at the table while they waited for breakfast, chatting admirably.

There was something about all of the boys in this house that caused them to want to walk around shirtless. Not that Rachel's single persona minded...

"Morning, Rach" Sam smiled, passing her a cup of coffee, slurping deeply from his. "Sleep well? Satan didn't keep you up too late with her assignment, did she?"

Rachel sighed and practically inhaled her coffee barely acknowledging Britt and Santana's appearance in the adjoined dining and kitchen. She shrugged, "Only a little."

"You offered to help me with this," Santana sniffed, sinking into one of the padded chairs next to the trio of boys with her girlfriend position on her lap, happily closing her eyes to soak in some of the morning sunlight. She'd been working on a huge assignment for her law class at NYU and with one of her fathers being an established lawyer, Rachel had offered her help. How she wished she hadn't, they were up most nights till well past one am working on it.

Rachel groaned, and Sam rubbed her back, "Worst mistake of my life."

"You and Jeffery have way worse assignment." Kurt sighed, dropping his cup into the sink, rinsing some water through it. He was kind of right. NYADA offered great opportunities, but insane workloads.

Jeff grunted and hung his head, he, like Rachel, was striving to make it onto the Broadway stage. He had an amazing voice but it was never show cased in the Warblers. Nick just laughed and rubbed his best friend's back. NYAA, where he attended to study the art of oil painting and sketching, had a similar work load so he could relate.

In fact all of them had crazy workloads with the fulltime courses they'd applied for. Santana, Sam and Sebastian were headed for NYU to peruse careers in law, medicine and architecture respectively, Kurt was off to Tisch for a fashion course, Blaine was joining Brittany and Mike at Julliard – making full use of their dance and musical programs while Rachel and Jeff had been accepted into NYADA. Nick wanted to break into the art world and attended NYAA in hope to get the best possible chance to do so. Noah was the only one not going to a college; instead he'd enrolled in the NYPD police force, aiming to slowly work his way up to a homicide detective in his distant future.

Blaine wandered over to the table, dropping down next to Mike who didn't even acknowledge him anymore; he just shifted to make more room for the boy to see. Kurt moved over too, loving cars after the years he'd spent working in the garage, but was soon board. Instead he entertained himself with Brittany and Santana.

However, as soon as Nick and Jeff had finished plating up their famous chocolate chip pancakes, with vegan substitutes for Rachel, and brought them over to the table, the mad rush to compete for the food began. The boys were like rabid animals fighting over the last scrap of meat, before they'd eventually settled down and switched on the tv, migrating towards it like the mass exodus; leaving the three girls and Kurt to eat in some relative peace, gossiping over the people they'd met in their classes.

Boys were certainly strange things.

There was a chime of the buzzer by the doorway, meaning that they'd just received their mail. Rachel, being the first one ready of the group of eleven situated in the lounge eating chocolate chip pancakes, stood. "I'll go get it."

The others waved her off and went back to staring at the television. As much as things had changed, some things would always been the same.

* * *

Eleven very relaxed nineteen year olds were lounging around in different parts of the apartment, chatting amiably or working on college assignments that were undoubtedly due in the following weeks. They were lucky, it was the only day a week that none of them had to go to school or work, leaving them free to do as they pleased.

It was a year ago that they'd each made their way out of Ohio to find a life in New York city, and this was anything but what they might have imagined back then.

Fresh out of high school, the big city may have seemed scarier had they not decided to make their journey here together. One apartment and Ohio had been the only things connecting them back then, when they all ran into each other at the airport, now however; they were a family in every sense but blood. The bonds from their past were broken down completely as they cut themselves off from their ex peers in Ohio to build this new one. And that was a bond stronger in every aspect. It was their choice, and yes fights did still break out regularly, and they still got in each other's way, but they made it work. Ask them last year that this would have become their lives and they would immediately deny every second of it.

"What are you thinking about Rachel?" Santana asked with a quirk of her eyebrow, the Latina was sprawled out on Rachel's bed, lowering the magazine she had previously been reading. It was getting annoying as the diva paced back and forth in the small bedroom muttering angrily under her breath in Hebrew.

"I'm fine, Santana," Rachel looked up, immediately stopping her rant, and feigned innocence, blinking at her friend in confusion. "What ever are you talking about?'

Santana scowled, emitting a deep growl from her throat, "Cut the crap, Berry. I know you; you're my freaking bestie and my roommate for crying out loud –"

"One of my roommates," Rachel corrected instantaneously, staring at the girl with narrowed eyes.

""Wherever!" Santana threw her hands up in frustration, her patience was wearing thin and she was getting irritated. "Listen, I know when something's on your mind... The whole building can usually tell because you're either screaming or if it's really bad you mutter under your breath in Hebrew and don't think any of us notice. Now spill and don't give me any of that I'm fine bull shit because I know better!"

"Fine!" Rachel raised her voice, probably grabbing the attention of their other housemates who were watching a football game in the living room. "You want to know what's wrong! I'm stressed because the one year New Direction reunion is coming up in a few months and Britt invited them all here for a weekend. I'm trying to move on here San, what's going to happen when I see him again?"

Santana chewed her bottom lip in thought, scooting closer to her best friend, pulling Rachel onto her lap. "Chica, I won't let anything happen to you. I still have razor blades hidden in my hair, you know."

Rachel laughed dryly but tucked her head into the crook of Santana's neck, staring up at her. with watery eyes. The anger and hostility was gone, replaced with her fear and insecurity. Rachel and Finn had left school on particularly nasty terms when he realised that she wasn't going to stay in Lima with him. He'd demanded and begged and bribed her to stay with him, forget about New York, because he had conveniently forgone – forgot – to apply for state colleges and was going to work in Burt's garage instead. But of course, nothing was going to stop Rachel Berry from reaching her full star potential, leaving them to fight for days until finally they split. "I don't want to see them," she sobbed, clinging to the Latina's casual shirt. "I never wanted to see them again."

"I know, Ray." Santana whispered, her facial features soft.

Rachel shook her head violently. "They took his side. They always did. I didn't want to stay, I belong here in New York, not in Lima. For three years Mr Schue preached about being a family but as soon as it came down to the final hour everything collapsed. But I guess we couldn't really call it a family in the first place, we all just stole each other's partners and stabbed each other in the back to get the solo."

"We were on your side, Rachel. We will always be on your side because we love you. This is a family, the rest of the New Directions can do screw themselves for all I care because they have no idea what family means."

"Sometimes..." Rachel's voice trailed away to a whisper and her brown eyes looked away.

Santana growled under her breath and turned Rachel's head to face her, "Sometimes, what?"

Rachel's gaze stiffed, and she spat, "Sometimes I'm waiting for you all to leave me."

Santana was shocked, rooted with heartache. Did McKinley break Rachel Berry so much that she couldn't even trust them. Her friends... no her best friends... no her _family._ Guilt consumed her body as she realised that yes, she was part of the reason that Rachel was like this. Everyone in this apartment was protective of their hearts, and they cared for very few people. But the ones they did care for, both girls included, they would protect with their lives. "Never think that, Rachel." She bit out through clenched teeth, more to stop her own shaky breath from escaping, "Why would we leave you?"

"Because that's what happened in high school," Rachel blurted, immediately regretting it, covering her mouth with a hand in shock. "I'm sorry, San." Rachel sobbed again, tears spilling from her eyes. She clung to her best friend. "I didn't mean that. I swear!"

"Shhh," the Latina hushed the smaller girl, playing with some of her hair. "I know, but you have to remember that you can never get rid of us, as much as you'd probably like to. High school is over and this is where you belong, Rachel Berry. Here in New York with your family that will be here through thick and thin." The girl winked and Rachel cracked a small smile. Santana held out her pinkie and Rachel giggled, hooking her own with her friend's. A promise and a pact.

"I still don't want them near me."

"It's still months away. We'll figure something out, get you out of town that weekend, or hide you on the roof." Santana chided with a smirk, gently rubbing the shorter girl's arm.

"You know how much I hate camping," Rachel complained, rubbing her eyes with an offered tissue. She had a weak smile on her face, thumping Santana's arm.

The girl scrunched up her nose and laughed briefly. "I do remember that one trip we tried to take you on... You know, Rachel, after this we don't really have to see them again, at least until the ten year reunion which we won't even have to go to 'cause it'll probably suck and we'll have much awesomer things to do."

"Awesomer, San? Really? That's almost worse than your Irish accent... Almost" Rachel chuckled and rolled off of the girl, staring up at the ceiling where Brittany had put her glow in the dark dinosaur and unicorn stickers. They were actually all over the place, but only really noticed in the dark, which came in handy when one of them wanted to navigate their way to another room late at night.

Santana grinned, happy to see Rachel crack a smile and forget about her troubles. Unlike in high school, Santana hated to see Rachel upset, she looked like a kicked puppy... actually no that was Blaine, but it looked like someone had told her that Broadway was now banned in the States. "Top of that mornin' to ya, do ya like mashed potatoes?"

Rachel snorted and almost toppled off the bed, collapsed in traitorous laughter. After everything that had transpired at the start of the year with Brittany, Santana had grown fond of Rory, even starting to mimic his accent. She was so bad at it that she had all of her friends in stitches. "San... stop... please..." The poor girl managed to choke out.

The Latina looked away coyly. "I have no idea what I'm doin'." She laid it on thicker, scrunching her face up in odd ways to pronunciate the words incorrectly.

"You know exactly what you're doing." Rachel retorted. cocking an eyebrow.

Santana huffed and crossed her arms playfully, speaking again, this time switching to British, "Prove it."

* * *

While Santana was calming down Rachel in the girl's room, the nine other nineteen year olds that inhabited the large W 37th street apartment, seated haphazardly on or around the plush white couch placed in front of the flat screen. Yes, with their combined pulls, considering some of them were better off than some of the others, they were able to score a pricey apartment on the sixth floor of the building, offering stunning views out every window. It was a large apartment with only 4 bedrooms which meant that they all had to share, the three girls, Mike, Noah and Sam were sharing, Nick, Jeff and Sebastian had a room and everyone let Blaine and Kurt have their privacy in theirs.

The boys were all watching intently as the buckeyes played the giants, yelling and cheering at the screen, jostling each other in excitement every time someone scored a touchdown. It was a friendly environment with chatter and jokes being passed back and forth. It was the family environment that had been missing in high school, the New Directions especially.

Snacks littered the low coffee table in front of them as well as the surrounding area. Mike was absentmindedly reaching into his bag of Cheetos selecting the last of the snacks. Finished, he was just about to wipe his hand on the couch when a sharp voice barked at him.

"Michael, if you so much as get one spot of cheese on that couch I will personally castrate you with the serving spoon in the kitchen, nice and slowly."

Mike paled and turned to find a red faced Kurt, peeking through the blonde hair covering his face as Brittany sat in his lap, allowing him to play with her hair, from where the pair was sitting on the matching arm chair against the window, listening to Kurt's iPod. It was a frightening sight to see, the bitch glare from high school hadn't disappeared... oh no, it had intensified under the guidance of Sebastian and Santana, making the boy extremely scary when he wanted to be.

Blaine sitting next to the lanky Asian, perched on the arm of the couch, snorted. Mike pushed him off and snickered back when Blaine landed with a thud.

A lot of things had changed since they'd all left high school. The biggest being the shifts in friendships. With nothing to compete for the New York bound New Direction members had accepted three of Kurt and Blaine's old Warbler friend's into their little group.

Sebastian was the real surprise out of the three, after all the trouble he caused the couple, but he had spent a long time proving himself to them. He was on probation for over three months, dancing around everyone else in the apartment. It was only after he pushed off some drunken bastard who was trying to make a move on Brittany, that they finally trusted him fully. And he was a lot happier now, friendlier even... most of the time.

Other things had changed between them all as well. Noah shaved off his mohawked as soon as he moved to New York, ditching his man whore persona. Rachel had also left part of herself in Lima, she'd let her family take her shopping for a new wardrobe, and she was now usually seen in tight jeans, leggings and hoodies. Santana was trying to be nicer, but that was harder for her. The other shift in their family was the relationships some of them had left behind in Lima, as most of them came to New York single and there were some long stories behind each break up. Chang Squared (Mike and Tina's), the most shocking for sure, especially.

The group got over the small disruption eventually, ignoring the pair in the arm chair in favour of focusing on the tv once more. Sebastian had Jeff laying in his lap, and the boy was unconsciously playing the with blonde's hair, while Nick was resting against the taller boy's legs, enjoying the warmth Sebastian was resonating. Kurt and Blaine were cuddling on one end of the couch, kissing occasionally or interacting. Brittany was snuggled under Kurt's other arm, talking excitedly about the dance she was choreographing at Julliard, asking if he wanted to help dance it with her when she remembered the single ladies dance. Mike, Noah and Sam were scrunching up pieces of paper and flicking them at Blaine's head, where he rarely gelled it on days like this and he'd left it grow into an afro, which Kurt and Brittany adored playing with. The boy didn't notice once.

"GET BACK HERE, SATAN!" Came Rachel's frantic voice, heavy footsteps pounding down the hall way as two brunettes came stampeding through the living room, the taller one cackling like made, holding a scraggly pink and yellow bear above her head. Rachel was spewing abuse as she chased the taller girl out of the room, as they ran laps of the apartment that had connecting corridors making a misshaped square.

"Here they go again," Blaine sighed, rubbing Kurt's arm, kissing his boyfriend on the lips briefly. Everyone else shrugged and went back to what they were previously doing, not even batting an eyelash at the two girls.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2! **

**I just love writing the Pezberry scenes, they're fun and kind of cute. I love their friendship and wish there was more of it on the show. **

**Jesse Returns :D Him singing is in bold and Rachel singing is in **_italic_**, both is **_**bold**__**italic**_**. **

**I'm very tempted to add Brody in as a friend – nothing more – for Rachel and Jeff and the others. Would anyone be against this idea? **

**Glee is not mine**

**Read and Review, please!**

* * *

While the majority of the house sat calmly in the living room, either watching the tv, or in Kurt and Brittany's case (the girl also had Lord Tubbington curled in her lap and was lazily stroking his soft fur), listening to music, the two dark haired girls were wreaking havoc in the back half of the house, wrestling over the small bear Santana had clasped in her hands. She was threatening - her words harsh and cold as she whispered in Rachel's ear yet her eyes betrayed her with their glint of playful comradery - to reveal the secrets the bear had to the rest of the apartment, presenting them with one of her deepest secrets that Santana had only found out because she was persistent enough to investigate the problem troubling the small diva.

Never once had Rachel told the rest of her roommates what that tattered little bear meant to her, one of the few possessions to make it out of Lima with her, and why she insisted on sleeping with it every night.

It was only by accident that Santana found out, about two months ago when she'd found the bear sitting on top of her pillow, while a note was sticking out from underneath Rachel's pillow. Of course, Santana was ever the curious type, and picked up the note; it was dated back to their junior year, just after the time of the prom fiascos, and Jesse's second departure. The creases from where it had obviously been scrunched up made the note a little harder to read, but nevertheless what she read changed her opinion about the relationship in which he note alluded back to.

_Rachel,_

_Every day I wake up knowing what I did and nothing in the world can make it go away. I'm sorry for leaving the second time and I'm regretting that decision. When we met each other at the music store and I saw your face, your eyes glistened with the same spark that I had when I saw you; I felt driven. And that feeling has never left and will never leave. But I was nervous, those pesky things only ever came out around you. Did you notice that I repeated UCLA was in Los Angeles twice?_

I remember waking up to next to you, on the nights your Dads' let me sleep over, or when we'd sneak over to my Uncle's place, watching you sleep, the way you walk to get to your car and immediately turn on the radio in case you'd miss a song, the way you answer the phone with a hopeful voice, the way your lips curl when I tell you that I love you, how happy you got when I'd appear at your locker and you'd hand me a readymade coffee – just the way I like it, the feeling you gave me when we hugged and kissed, when we walked around where ever we ended up hand in hand, the one weekend in Columbus at the hotel, the way you blew in my face when I took your breath away, and most importantly, the way you showed me how to love you. Those are only a few things I miss and I would give anything in the world to have all that again. But, my mistake cost me happiness and love I'll never find again. It hurts me day in and day out. And what hurts the worst is knowing that I hurt someone who was in love with me.

_I should never let Shelby get between us, between what we had. I let her trivial threats get the better of me and allowed myself to be manipulated by her. I never would have let her get near you if I had known she would do what she did, it was wrong. I wish I could take everything back, but I can't and now I have to live with those decisions. I was scared... not of you or Shelby, but I was waiting for you to leave me. I could see the looks Hudson was giving you and believed it was only a matter of time before you realised that it was him you wanted and I wasn't worth your time._

_I am so much in love with you but you've moved on to the quarterback. My leaving; left me with a lot of pain, the kind of pain that I wouldn't wish on anyone. I'm not good at writing letters as you know but this is how I feel. Rach, I love you so much. I cry every night, thinking about you._

_~ J _

She was shocked to read everything that the familiar chicken scratch expressed through the letter, and not once in her life did Santana believe that Jesse had any capabilities to be romantic whatsoever. Every now and then bits and pieces were crossed out, or notes had been added by Rachel – her loopy scrawl was unmistakable, carefully inserted around the tear stains streaking the paper. The most of said added notes were in the second last paragraph where Rachel had written things like. "I was never going to leave," and "He meant nothing to me," and "It wasn't your fault." These small annotations were a window inside what Rachel had felt, and frankly being her best friend, changed Santana's view on the boy. Back in high school she was manipulative, sure, but she also wasn't very trusting. She never actually decided to look into the relationship between Jesse and Rachel; she only saw what she wanted to see – and that was someone who had nothing but club destruction in mind. And in reality Shelby and Vocal Adrenaline weren't the only ones to blame for their break up. Finn caused major obvious problems, but the rest of the club, too, played a role; had they accepted Jesse and moved past his past in Vocal Adrenaline then maybe he wouldn't have felt swayed to jump ship again and egg Rachel. Even the second time, they weren't much better, and it was quite obvious that during both of the times Jesse St James roamed the halls of McKinely High Rachel was much happier.

Rachel was scratching at Santana's arms, and the Spanish girl was pretty sure Rachel's teeth were sinking into her flesh. The midget bitch had sharp teeth. "Just give him back, Santana!" Rachel howled, squirming in the headlock Santana had her in. "Give me James and no one will get hurt."

Santana smirked and shook her head fondly. "What sane person names a..." she paused in her teasing to pretend to examine the pink and yellow bear, slightly faded over the few years, "...care-bear, James?"

Rachel huffed and unclamped her teeth from the Latina's arm, narrowing her eyes in a harsh glare that Santana herself had taught her, blowing in Santana's face. "I got him on my first date with Jesse, now give him back." Her voice dipped to a whisper at the mention of her ex, eyes misting slightly at the prospect of her secrets being revealed. No one was supposed to know where her care bear came from.

"As in Jesse St James?" Santana pushed, she figured it out as soon as the name came out of Rachel's mouth, putting two and two together, but she needed Rachel to say it. If she had to she would chase for St James, drag him to their apartment and then lock him in their room just so that she could see Rachel happy.

Rachel's eyes flickered for a moment and she looked nervous, gulping she gave a weak nod and shut her eyes, waiting for some kind of backlash. "Yes," she whispered in a tiny voice, struggling in Santana's arms again.

Santana's grip loosened, and Rachel scrambled free in the process of successfully reclaiming her bear, hiding it from view. "Chica," she said, "It's alright to miss him, you know. No one here will judge you."

Rachel looked up, surprised. "That's not true, you all hate Jesse St James."

"That was true," Santana admitted and Rachel sighed in defeat, so the Latina continued, "But if you saw something good inside him – you probably still do, then he must have been something and I trust you enough to believe that I was selfish in my reasons and never saw what you did."

Tears were almost streaming down the small girl's face, buried into the soft fur of her care bear, shaking slightly. "Who cares now anyway...?" She whispered into the bear, "It's not like I'm ever going to see him again, he's probably disappeared and living a happy life with some beautiful actress in LA."

"Impossible things can happen Rachie, look at us for example."

"Our friendship was bound to happen anyway, we're too alike."

"So are you and Jesse, you're perfect for each other."

"That's not what you said last time I saw him." Rachel mumbled, looking away. Santana felt the hurt from the girl and remembered the protests she had tried to interject when the glee club were accusing him of things that he never really committed.

Santana hummed in response sadly, "I'm sorry about that Rachel. I was a judgemental, egotistical bitch back then who didn't care for anyone but herself."

In response, Rachel only giggled. Much to Santana's confusion. "Did you really just say that," Rachel giggled, "I should have recorded it! Santana Lopez just admitted that she was and is an egotistical bitch!"

And with that, the serious mood was broken. "Oh you'll get it now Chica."

Suddenly Rachel was off again, running from the wrath of Santana, giggling all the way into their bed room.

* * *

The group was once again settled on the couch, laying in a big clump of limbs that could barely be distinguished to certain individuals, watching the first of the Chronicles of Narnia in relative peace. The disk was worn from repeated use, a favourite among all of them, letting them forget whatever they were supposed to be doing and imagine that they might just be in the magic world.

It was custom for them to dress up in clothes closely resembling the movie, handmade by Kurt, Nick and the girls, along with blunt, vaguely metallic swords that the boys liked to use in their mock battles. The three girls, on the other hand, liked to twirl their wooden bows and arrows - complete with red feathers.

The peace was shattered, however, by loud bangs coming from one of the lower floors as something heavy made contact with the hall way. Vaguely they could hear gruff voices of a moving company as a new tenant joined them in the building.

All of the house mates shrugged it off as either some new hopeful ready to make their dreams come true in the Big Apple or someone in their later years wanting somewhere in the middle of the city to live. It wasn't all that uncommon for 'newbies' to enter the building and they would meet each other soon enough at the mixer the bar throws for any new tenant tomorrow evening.

Rachel was idly commenting on the film too Sebastian and Noah when she felt a vibration in her pocket. Figuring it was one of her classmates asking after the latest assignment she fished her phone out and scrolled through the messages. What she did see, however, was not one of her classmates, but a text that made her blood run cold.

**Blocked: **_Hey Rach, can't wait to see you at the reunion. And I am sorry for how we left off last year. Maybe I can make it up to you when I'm in the city xx_

The boys saw her back stiffen, the hairs on her neck stood up and a look of pure anguish crossed her face. They shared a look and Sebastian expectedly snatched the device out of her curled grasp, quickly reading the text before passing it off to Noah and subsequently the rest of the housemates.

Once the phone had circulated and made its way back to Rachel the movie was paused and much shouting was being passed back and forth.

"What kind of idiot does he think he is?!" Kurt hissed, ranting angrily to the two calmest residents – Blaine and Brittany, who only nodded sympathetically and attempted to quell some of the chaos going on in the living room.

Santana nodded firmly at Kurt, looking at Rachel, "He's not getting anywhere near her, or so help me..." She trailed off to spew an angry string of Spanish under her breath, stomping around the room.

The three Warblers, though were never there during the big blow up, had been informed of everything from sophomore year to senior year. They were tense and looked between each other and the group, informing the others that the promise they made as soon as they heard about Finn would come true - that as soon as they saw him next he would be beaten until he couldn't reproduce.

Mike, Sam and Noah, on the other hand, were angry, but more concerned with Rachel to be pacing and muttering, formed a protective barrier around her, keeping her safe, and away from the lamp that Santana hurled across the room, smashing into tiny pieces as soon as it connected to the wall.

"I need to go get some air," a pale Rachel breathed, pushing the three protective boys off of her lap. She didn't bother putting other clothes on, throwing one of Sebastian's (or at least she thought it as Sebastian's) NYU hoodies over the top of her 'Narnian' attire. Before any of the others could stop her, she was out the front door and running down the corridor.

Her feet slapped hard against the hallway, from behind closed doors she could hear grumbling from other residences, but she didn't care. She didn't know where she was going, or if she was even going to leave the building... the floor, but she just had to be away from that room because she felt like she was suffocating in there. HE was coming to New York. HE was going to be invading her safe space. HE was going to break her again. She didn't want to bring back all of that, the issues she'd developed after her two or three relationships with him.

It was suffocating her mind, and she collapsed against the wall down the other end of the hallway, breathing heavily and shaking violently. So, Rachel started to do the one thing that could calm her down… Sing.

_Boy it's been all this time_  
_And I can't get you off my mind_  
_And nobody knows it but me_

_I stare at your photograph_  
_Still sleep in the shirt you left_  
_And nobody knows it but me_

_Everyday I wipe my tears away_  
_So many nights I've prayed for you to say_

Tears ran down her cheeks uncontrollably. From the distance she could still hear the commotion going on behind her apartment door way, the angry Spanish Santana was still yelling. She was thankful that she hadn't yet hear the sound of more furniture smashing; because despite their combined pulls they didn't really have enough money to constantly replace all of the damaged furniture.

_I should've been chasing you_  
_I should've been trying to prove_  
_That you were all that mattered to me_  
_I should've said all the things that I kept inside of me_  
_And maybe I could've made you believe_  
_That what we had was all we'd ever need_

**My friends think I'm moving on  
But the truth is I'm not that strong  
And nobody knows it but me**

A male voice; clear, strong and unmistakable picked up the verse, his figure hidden in the shadows of the hallway, blue eyes locked onto Rachel's shocked brown ones. What was he doing here? Here! In her building! It was impossible.

Rachel whirled around immediately to see the one person she had always hoped would find her again slowly stepping towards her, picking up his cues perfectly, as per usual.

**And I've kept all the words you said  
In a box underneath my bed  
And nobody knows it but me**

_**But if you're happy I'll get through somehow**_  
_**But the truth is that I've been screaming out**_

_**I should've been chasing you**_  
_**You should've been trying to prove**_  
_**That you were all that mattered to me**_  
_**Oh you should've said all the things that I kept inside of me**_  
_**And maybe you could've made me believe**_  
_**That what we had girl**_  
_**Oh that what we had, what we had**_  
_**It was all we'd ever need**_  
_**It was all we'd ever need**_

They finished the song together. Rachel rising from her seat on the floor, eyes locked onto the blue of his in utter disbelief.

"Jesse?" She squeaked.

"Hello Rachel."


End file.
